Alinghi, BMW Oracle meeting ends in discord

GENEVA 
Alinghi rejected a proposal from BMW Oracle Racing on Thursday for a traditional America's Cup race in monohull boats, saying it was preparing to race the American challenger in multihulls as soon as May 2010.

The first meeting between the rival Swiss and American teams to negotiate the terms for a 33rd edition of sailing's classic ended in discord. Alinghi says the race should be held as soon as possible rather than in 2011. It also called on BMW Oracle to invite other teams to take part.

"It is time to just get out there and have the regatta and get on with it," Alinghi skipper Brad Butterworth said after a first gathering since a long-running court battle ended this month.

But BMW Oracle and its backer, San Francisco's Golden Gate Yacht Club, said it had put forward a proposal for a traditional race with multiple challengers in monohull boats.

"GGYC is disappointed that (Alinghi's club Societe Nautique Geneve) categorically rejected our proposals for a conventional regatta," club spokesman Tom Ehman said in a statement.

BMW Oracle and Golden Gate won a ruling April 2 in New York's top court that gave them the right to negotiate terms for the next America's Cup. If no agreement is reached on a multichallenger regatta, the Americans would have the right to face Alinghi in a best-of-three series in multihulls.

BMW Oracle has built a multihull in readiness for such a duel, but came to Alinghi's home club in Geneva proposing a multi-challenger regatta in 2011.

The American side has asked for the Swiss defender to state its position in writing before a follow-up meeting is scheduled.

"(Golden Gate) will continue to negotiate in good faith as challenger of record to put the America's Cup back on the water as soon as possible," Ehman said.

Butterworth's preference for a one-on-one showdown was in spite of the American syndicate being well ahead in preparations for a multihull race.

Funded by software billionaire Larry Ellison, BMW Oracle has been testing its 90-foot trimaran in San Diego. Alinghi, owned by Swiss biotech tycoon Ernesto Bertarelli, is still building its multihull on the shores of Lake Geneva.

"In these financial times, it's just a waste if we don't use them," Butterworth said. "Theirs is more obvious than ours because it has been sailing. We are looking forward to launching our boat as soon as we can and get it sailing as best we can."

While a one-on-one showdown between Alinghi and BMW Oracle Racing would leave other syndicates at the docks, it would be spectacular.

BMW Oracle Racing's cutting-edge trimaran, which is believed to have cost Ellison more than $10 million, can sail at 2 to 2 1/2 times the speed of the wind. The boat dwarfs its crew, with a mast as tall as a 16-story building and a mainsail that's twice as big as a Boeing 747's wing. When the big boat hooks into a breeze, its windward hull flies some 15 feet above the water.

BMW Oracle Racing has been cautious in its testing. The trimaran is so powerful and potentially lethal that its crewmen wear crash helmets and life vests, hardly the normal America's Cup gear. One of the syndicate's chase boats carries a medic, a diver and a backup diver in case of an accident. If the boat were to flip, sailors could be thrown from a height equivalent to a nine-story building.

BMW Oracle Racing concluded its third testing session in early March and immediately began what it said were significant modifications to the space age-looking craft.

Alinghi is believed to be building a catamaran but has given no details about the boat.

Alinghi is open to discussing the dates and venues for racing and encouraged BMW Oracle to allow other competitors, Butterworth said.

Bertarelli and Ellison were not present for Thursday's meeting at the SNG club, but have engaged in talks.

Alinghi retained the America's Cup in July 2007 beating Team New Zealand 5-2 in racing at Valencia, Spain.

Within days the event became mired in court action over who was the official challenger and had the responsibility of negotiating the terms of the next race.

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AP Sports Writer Bernie Wilson in San Diego contributed to this report.